Having detailed the reserve price for its upcoming auction of spectrum suitable for the deployment of 5G services last month, South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) has now confirmed the sale will get underway on 15 June, the Korea Times reports. All three of the nation’s cellcos – SK Telecom, KT Corp and LG Uplus – will compete for frequencies in the 3.5GHz and 28GHz bands, with the ministry offering up 280MHz of spectrum in the former and 2,400MHz in the latter. A minimum bid price of KRW2.65 trillion (USD2.5 billion) has been set for the 3.5GHz frequencies, which are being offered for use for an initial ten-year period, while a block in the 28GHz spectrum band will cost KRW621.6 billion for a five-year licence; all new spectrum will be available for use from December 2018.
It has also been confirmed that the MSIT has set a limit on the maximum amount of frequencies that can be assigned to one mobile carrier, with this limiting each operator to winning no more than 100MHz in the 3.5GHz band and 1,000MHz in the 28GHz band. SK Telecom remains unhappy with these restrictions, however, with one unnamed official at the company cited as saying: ‘It is regrettable that the ministry set the limit on the effective use of limited resources … Measures to provide additional frequencies should be urgently drawn up to prevent a shortage.’ Both KT and LG Uplus are understood to be happier with the caps though, with an official for the former saying: ‘The measure will also correct SK Telecom’s previous monopoly.’